Anaïs Mitchell
Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)
[FATE, spoken]
The deal is signed?

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Yes

[FATE, spoken]
About time

[FATE, spoken]
Get on the line

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I did what I had to do

[FATE, spoken]
That's what they did too

[HERMES]
Now in Hadestown there were a lot of souls

[WORKERS]
Low, keep your head, keep your head

[HERMES]
Working on the wall with all their might
[WORKERS]
Oh, you gotta keep your head

[HERMES]
You see, they kept their heads down low

[WORKERS]
If you wanna keep your head

[HERMES]
You couldn't quite see their faces right
But you could hear them singing:

[WORKERS]
Low, keep your head, keep your head

[HERMES]
Swinging their hammers in the cold, hard ground
You can hear the sound of the pickaxe ringin'

[WORKERS]
If you wanna keep your head

[HERMES]
And they called it--
[HERMES & WORKERS]
“Freedom.”

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I’m Eurydice
Doesn't anybody hear me?

[FATE, spoken]
They can hear

[FATE, spoken]
But they don't care

[FATE, spoken]
No one has a name down here

[FATES]
Mr. Hades set you free
To work yourself into the ground
Free to spend eternity

[FATE]
In the factory

[FATE]
And the warehouse
[FATES]
Where the whistles scream

[FATE]
And the foreman shouts

[FATE]
And you're punchin' in

[WORKERS]
Hoo

[FATE]
And punchin' in

[WORKERS]
Hoo

[FATE]
And punchin' in

[FATE]
And you can't punch out, and you’re-

[FATES (WORKERS)]
Way down Hadestown
(Oh, keep your head, keep your head low)
Way down Hadestown
(Oh, you gotta keep your head low)
Way down Hadestown
(If you wanna keep your head)
Way down under the ground!
(Keep your head low)

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Why won't anybody look at me?

[FATE, spoken]
They can look

[FATE, spoken]
But they don't see

[FATE, spoken]
You see, it's easier that way

[FATES, spoken]
Your eyes will look like that someday
(sung)
Down in the river of oblivion

[FATE]
You kissed your little life goodbye

[FATES & WORKERS]
And Hades laid his hands on you

[FATES]
And gave you everlasting life!

[FATES & WORKERS]
And everlasting overtime

[FATE]
In the mine

[FATE]
The mill

[FATE & WORKERS]
And the machinery

[FATES (WORKERS)]
Your place on the assembly line
(Ohhhh)

[FATE]
Replaces all your memories

[FATES and WORKERS]
Way down Hadestown
(Oh, keep your head, keep your head low)
Way down Hadestown
(Oh, you gotta keep your head low)
Way down Hadestown
(If you wanna keep your head)
Way down under the ground!
(Keep your head low)

[EURYDICE, spoken]
What do you mean I'll look like that?

[FATE, spoken]
That's what it looks like to forget

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Forget what?

[FATE, spoken]
Who you are

[FATE, spoken]
And everything that came before

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I have to go

[FATE, spoken]
Go where?

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Go back!

[FATE, spoken]
Oh?
And where is that?

[FATE, spoken]
So what was your name again?

[FATE, spoken]
You've already forgotten

[HERMES, spoken]
You see, it’s like I said before:
A lot can happen behind closed doors
Eurydice was a hungry young girl, but she wasn’t hungry anymore
What she was instead, was dead--
Dead to the world, anyway
You see, she went behind those doors
And signed her life away

[WORKERS]
Ah-ooh

[FATE]
Saw that wheel up in the sky

[WORKERS]
Hoo

[FATE]
Heard the big bell tolling

[WORKERS]
Ah-ooh

[FATE]
A lot of souls have gotta die

[FATES & WORKERS]
To keep the Rust Belt rollin'

[WORKERS]
Ah-ooh

[FATES]
A lot of spirits gotta break

[FATES & WORKERS]
To make the underworld go 'round

[FATES]
Way down Hadestown

[WORKERS]
Hoo

[FATES & WORKERS]
Way down under the ground!